The St. Louis Blues will try to tighten up their defensive-zone coverage on Friday night when they host the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Blues endured a 7-2 beating from the host Nashville Predators on Thursday night, and then they faced a quick turnaround to travel and face the Blackhawks.
St. Louis has lost four of its past six games. After winning 2-1 at Ottawa and 4-3 at Montreal last weekend, the Blues dropped their past two contests by the combined score of 12-4.
“The last two games we’ve been not hard enough at either net front,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “We don’t get there on the inside. That’s where good teams in the NHL score goals, screening the goalie and having two guys whacking away at rebounds.”
Both St. Louis goaltenders, Jordan Binnington and Joel Hofer, took a loss this week. Hofer was in net for a 5-2 loss to the Boston Bruins on Tuesday, and then the Blues started Binnington in Nashville.
Binnington allowed six goals on 25 shots in two periods Thursday. Hofer relieved him for the third period and turned aside six of the seven shots he faced.
“Last couple of games our goalies have had no chance, with the way we’re playing in front of them,” Montgomery said. “We’re not boxing out at our net front. The physicality in our D-zone coverage in our last two games has really dissipated.”
On positive for the Blues on Thursday was Robby Fabbri’s season debut. With St. Louis missing five forwards due to injury, Fabbri signed as a free agent and earned an assist in his first game back in the NHL.
“I thought Robby Fabbri was our best forward,” Montgomery said. “I loved his habits and details.”
Fabbri, 29, began his career with the Blues, playing for them in four seasons from 2015-16 to 2019-20.
Hofer allowed seven goals on 22 shots in an 8-3 home loss to the Blackhawks on Oct. 15. Chicago center Connor Bedard earned three assists in that game, and Lukas Reichel had two goals and an assist, and Frank Nazar also was among the goal-scorers.
Nazar hasn’t scored since Oct. 28, but he has earned nine assists since then and has stepped up his overall play.
“Honestly, I thought Frank Nazar was as good as he’s played probably all season,” Chicago coach Jeff Blashill said after the Blackhawks blanked the visiting New York Rangers 3-0 on Wednesday. “I look at process, I look at things like being over the puck and being strong on the puck and having those opportunities to make plays and using his speed. Yes, there have been nights where maybe … St. Louis, in St. Louis he was flashier.
“But I thought for the things it’s going to take for Frank to be a really, really big-time difference-maker, he was excellent tonight. Is it frustrating when you’re not scoring? Yes. Our job as a coaching staff is to keep him focused on the process, because points come and go. I’ve seen it all the time. He’ll get his points if he plays like that on a consistent basis.”
The Blackhawks lost back-to-back West Coast games to the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks by the combined score of 13-1 last weekend. Then they returned home, regrouped and shut out the Rangers to steady themselves.
“I thought we did a really good job through the 60 minutes,” Blashill said. “It was the type of hockey that leads to success, so we’ll just keep building off it.”
